Information storing and releasing mechanism



July 10, 1962 J. G. LORD INFORMATION STORING AND RELEASING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 19, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JOHN G. LORD BY Jul 10, 1962 J. G. LORD 3,

INFORMATION STORING AND RELEASING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 19, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JOHN G. LORD July 10, 1962 J. G. LORD INFORMATION STORING AND RELEASING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 19, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. JOHN G. LORD United States Patent Ofiice 3,044,048 Patented July 10, 1962 3,044,043 INFORMATION STORING AND RELEASING MECHANISM John G. Lord, Swarthmore, Pa., assignor to Shonp Toll Collecting Devices, Inc.-, Chester Pike, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Feb. 19, 1969, Ser. No. 9,772 14 Claims. (Cl. 340-413) The recent increase in toll bridges and highways and the great increase in the number of vehicles using these facilities, make manual collection of tolls altogether impractical.

In an attempt to solve this problem, it has been proposed to provide single coin receiving machines, that is, machines which can accept a single coin, such as a dime, a quarter, etc. Such machines are placed in lanes reserved for automatic collection and, when trafiic is moderately heavy, this arrangement is satisfactory. But, wheretrafiic is very heavy, the number of motorists who will not have the required coin, will be too large to make the use of the machines referred to practical.

To overcome this difficulty, it has been proposed to use multi-coin machines, that is, machines which can accept tolls paid in one, or in a number of different coins. For example, a 25 toll can be paid with five nickels, or with two dimes and a nickel, or with three nickels and a dime, and so on. Such machines are more practical in that they can take care of all motorists except such as do not happen to have an. assortment of coins which will add up to the required amount and such motorists will be diverted into manual collection lanes.

- Multi-coin machines must sort out, must add the coins deposited and must indicate, as by energizing a green or red'light, whether or not, the coins received add up to the amount of toll required, and, while such machines operate very rapidly, the overall operation, or cycle, takes about one and one-half seconds.

In the interest of speed, it is preferable that the motorists need only slow down enough to enable them to throw the money. into the coin receiving trough or hopper of the machine without coming to a full stop. But, since the machine takes about a second and a half to process the coins received, and to energize the corresponding signal, it is necessary to so space the signal from the coin receiving machine that a car moving at a moderate speed, will need about a second and a half to reach the signal. In practice, the required distance has been found to be about equal to three car lengths which means that, by the time a car reaches the signal, two succeeding cars will have passed the toll collecting machine. This provides an opportunity for cheating because, if the first and third cars in line pay the correct toll, the second, or middle, car can pass the signal without having paid the correct toll, and the third car which paid the correct toll cannot pass because the payment of the correct toll by the first car energizes the green light to permit the first car to proceed, and the payment of the correct toll by the third car will re-energize the green light which permits the second car, which did not pay the correct toll, to proceed. When the third car arrives at the signal, the red light will be re-energized, and the third car, which did pay the correct toll, cannot proceed. Because the collecting machine makes no record, it is not possible to prove whether the second, or the third car did, or did not, pay the correct toll.

It is, therefore, one object of the invention to provide a multi-coin toll collecting machine with a memory unit, or information storing machanism, which correlates the payment of the correct toll by a car with the arrival of said car at the signal, so that a car which pays the correct toll gets the green light and can proceed and so that a car which did not pay the correct toll gets a red light even though a preceding or a succeeding car, or both, may have paid the correct toll.

More specifically, a machine embodying my invention includes a mechanism which can receive and store information indicating that two or more cars have paid the correct toll, or that one car, or another, did not pay the required toll, and which can release this information in the order in which it was received so that, as each car which has paid the correct toll reaches the signal, the green light will be energized to indicate the payment of the correct toll and to permit the car to proceed, and vice versa, regardless of the position of the car in the line of cars moving through the toll zone.

A further object of the invention is to produce an electro-mechanical, as distinguished from an electronic, mechanism whereby the cost of manufacture, installation and maintenance are greatly reduced and whereby the operation of the mechanism will not be affected by radiant energy which can interfere with any but the most elaborate electronic systems.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which:

'FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a toll collecting installation employing a mu-lti-coin toll collecting machine and providing for continuous, as distinguished from intermittent, movement of vehicles therethrough.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a memory unit, or information storage mechanism, embodying my invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional View looking in the direction of line 33 on FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of line 5--5 on FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing details of con-' struction.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of the operation of the machine.

FIG. '8 is similar to FIG. 5 but shows a slightly modilied construction.

The installation illustrated includes a multi-coin, receiving, sorting and evaluating mechanism 10 which may be of the type shown in my co-pending application Serial No. 827,468 filed July 16, 1959, entitled Toll Collecting Machine, or my application Serial No. 840,036, filed September 15, 1959, entitled Toll Collecting Machine, or it may be the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,594,422 issued on April 29, 1952, to A. M. Gordon. Since the multicoin receiving machine forms no part of this invention, it is not shown, nor described. It is sufficient to say that it is connected to solenoid 8-3 by wires W-l and W-Z and that, if the correct toll is paid, solenoid S3 is energized, and vice versa. The toll collecting installation also includes treadles T-1 and T-2 which are actuated by the passage of the front and rear wheels thereover, to close spring loaded, normally open switches 12 and 14, respectively, and a dual semaphore which includes a red light R and a green light G and which is spaced about three car lengths away from the coin receiving machine 10.

Switch 12 is connected by wires W-3 and W-4 to sole-' noid S-1 and to a source of electric energy so that solenoid 8-1 is momentarily energized every time switch 12 is closed by the passage of the front, or of the rear, wheels of a car over treadle T1. Switch 14 is connected'by wires W-S and W-6 to solenoid S-2 and to a source of electric energy so that solenoid S2 is momentarily energized everytime switch 14 is closed by the passage of the front,

or of the rear, wheels of a car over treadle T2. Energizaaces-nae tion of solenoid S2 causes its armature 18 to move downwardly or in the direction of arrow 19, to engage and rotate ratchet 20 in counterclockwise direction, or in the direction of arrow 21. Ratchet 26 is carried by a sleeve 24 which also carries gears 26 and 28 and which rotates freely on shaft 30. Shaft 30 is suitably journalled in bearings 31 carried by the side walls 32 and 33 of the casing which houses the mechanism. Shaft 30 fixedly carries gear 34- and arm 36 which carries pinion 38 which meshes with gear 28 on sleeve 24 and with gear 40 which is carried by sleeve 42 which also carries ratchet 44 and is freely rotatable on shaft 30. Ratchet 44 is adapted to be moved in clockwise direction, or in the direction of arrow 45 by the armature 46 of solenoid S-l whenever said solenoid is energized by the closing of switch 12. Ratchet 20 is held against clockwise rotation by fixed arm 48, the hooked end 49 of which engages the teeth of the ratchet and ratchet 44 is held against counterclockwise direction by spring loaded dog 50 which is pivoted to side wall 33 of the casing. which fixedly carries cylindrical housing 56 and rotates freely on shaft 58. Shaft 53 is slidably and rotatably mounted in bearings 59, only one of which is shown, and the arrangement of solenoid S3 is such that, when it is energized by the payment of the correct toll into machine 10, armature of solenoid S3 moves shaft 58 from the solid to the broken line position of FIG. 4, it being noted that armature 60 is spring loaded so that, upon de-energization of solenoid S3, shaft 58 returns to its solid line position instantly and automatically. Shaft 58 fixedly carries gear 62 which meshes with gear 34 and it fixedly carries finger 64 whereby rotation of gear 62 rotates finger 64 accordingly. Slidably mounted in housing 56 are four elongated members or pins 66, 67, 68 and 69, each of which is provided with an intermediate ovaloid portion 70 and with an end ovaloid portion 72. Bearing 59 adjacent gear 54 includes a collar 74 which carries a cam 76 on which slidable pins 66 to 69 are adapted to ride with the rotation of sleeve 56. In order to prevent rotation of pins 66 to 69 about their longitudinal axes, I provide a collar 78 which is carried by fixed bracket 80 and which has a circular bore 82 against which the ovaloid surfaces 84 of rods 66 to 69 abut. Gear 62 is made wide enough so as to continue to engage gear 34 in both positions of shaft 58.

'It is to be noted that gear 34 has a 2 to 1 ratio to gear 62 and that the memory unit also includes a two-position switch 86 which is connected by wires 87, 88 and 89 to a source of electrical energy and to green and red lights G and R in the usual manner. Switch 86 also includes a spring loaded movable arm 85 which is normally biased upwardly, as viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5 and which carries, or is operatively connected to, a roller 90 which is engageable with intermediate, relatively large portions 70 of pins 66 to 69 to depress arm 85 to energize the red light, or with reduced end portions 72 of said pins to permit the movable arm 85 to move upwardly to energize the green light for the purpose, and in the manner, hereinafter set forth.

When the front wheels of a car pass over treadle T1, switch 12 is momentarily closed to provide a momentary impulse in solenoid 8-1 to cause armature 46 of said solenoid to rotate ratchet 44 through an angle of 45 in clockwise direction, or in the direction of arrow 45 in FIG. 2. Ratchet 20 and, hence, gears 26 and 28, are held against rotation by arm 48 so that rotation of ratchet 44 only rotates sleeve 42, gear 40 and pinion 38. Since pinion 38 is fixed to shaft 30, rotation of ratchet 44 will turn shaft 30 and gear 34 through an angle of 22 /2 in the direction of arrow 37. Since gear 34 has a 2 to 1 ratio with gear 62, it follows that gear 62, shaft 58 and finger 64 will be turned through an angle of 45 in the direction of arrows 63 in FIG. 2. If, in this position, the proper toll is paid into coin receiving machine 10, solenoid S3 will be momentarily energized to cause its armature 66, the yoke of which engages shaft 58, to move the shaft and Gear 26 meshes with gear 54 M finger 64 to the left, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4. As previously pointed out, armature 66 is spring loaded so that, as soon as solenoid S3 is de-energized, shaft 58 and finger 64 will move to the right or to the solid line position shown in FIG. 4. Movement of finger 64 to the left will cause it to push the pin which happens to register with it, such as pin 66 in FIG. 2, to the left relative to sleeve 56, or to the position exemplified by pin 68 in FIG. 4. It will be noted that, when the pins are in their extreme right hand positions such as the position of pins 66, 67 and 68, in FIG. 2, the relatively large portion 70 thereof, will register with, and will depress, roller 90 of two-position switch 86. Depression of roller 90 will depress movable arm of switch 86 to the broken line position of FIG. 5 to de-energize green light G and to energize the red light. Conversely, when a pin is pushed to the left, or to the position of pin 68 in FIG. 4, the reduced portion 72 of the pin will register with roller 90, thus permitting movable arm 85 and roller of switch 86 to move upwardly to energize the green light and deenergize the red light. In other words, every time a correct toll is paid, finger 64 will move to the left to push whichever pin 66, 67, 68 or 69 happens to register with it to the left, thereby storing information to the effect that the particular car which activated solenoid S3 did pay the correct toll. A second activation of solenoid S3 by the payment of a second correct toll, causes finger 64 to push another pin 66, 67, 68 or 69, to store information that the second car paid the correct toll and so on. It will be remembered that shaft 58 is rotated in counterclockwise direction by the passage of the front and rear wheels of a car over treadle T1, independently of sleeve 56 and pins 66 to 69 so that the passage of each car over treadle T-l moves finger 64 into registration with a different pin 66, 67, 68 or 69. But, since finger 64 is reciprocated laterally only by the payment of the correct toll, finger 64 will not be reciprocated and, therefore, it will not push the registering pin to the left if the corresponding car failed to pay the correct toll. As previously pointed out, when a pin which has not been pushed into the position of pin 68 in FIG. 4 comes into registration with roller 90 of switch 86, the roller will be pushed down by the relatively large portion 76 of the pin and, therefore, the green light will not be energized. Instead, movable arm 85 of the switch will be in contact with the other pole of the switch and red light R will be energized.

When the front wheels of a car pass over treadle T-2, switch 14 is momentarily closed to provide a momentary impulse in solenoid S2, armature 18 of which now rotates ratchet 20 through an angle of 45 in the direction of arrow 21. It will be noted that ratchet 44 and, hence, gear 40, are held against rotation in the direction of arrow 21 by dog 50. But, rotation of ratchet 26, in the direction of arrow 21, rotates gear 26 in the same direction, thus rotating gear 54 and sleeve 56 in the direction of arrow 55. Successive rotations of sleeve 56 bring pins 66, 67, 68 and 69 successively into registration with roller 90 of switch 86 so that, if the pins are in their left hand positions, roller 90 will engage the reduced right hand end portions 72 of the pins and will energize the green light G and so that, if a pin is in its right hand position, roller 90 will be pushed down by the large intermediate portion 70 of the pin and movable arm 85 of switch 86 will be pushed down to complete the circuit through red light R.

Rotation of ratchet 20 in counterclockwise direction will, through gear 28 and pinion 38, rotate shaft 30 and gear 34 in counterclockwise direction, or in the direction of arrow 39. Rotation of gear 34 in the direction of arrow 39 rotates gear 62, and finger 64 in clockwise direction, or in the direction of arrow 3912. In other words, the

passage of the front wheels of a car over treadle T-l rotates finger 64 relative to pins 66 to 69, and the passage of the front wheels of a car over treadle T-2 rotates finger 64 and sleeve 56 and pins 66 to 69 in the opposite direction. As best shown in FIG. 7 and as will be hereinafter explained, finger 64 is so constructed, and pins 66, 67, 68 and 69 are so spaced, that movement of finger 68 in response to the energization of solenoid 8-1 by the passage of the rear wheels of a car over treadle T-l, and the movement of finger 64 in response to the energization of solenoid 8-2 by the passage of the rear wheels of a car over treadle T-2, are in the nature of lost motion, in that finger 64 will remain in engagement with one of pins 66-69 while it rotates through an angle of 90.

By this arrangement, if the first car to pass completely over treadle T-1 has paid the correct toll, finger 64 will push corresponding finger 66, 67, 68 or 69 to the left and the car can proceed toward treadle T-Z. When a second car passes completely over treadle T-1, finger 64 and shaft 30 will have been further rotated through the same angle and the payment of the correct toll by the second car will cause finger 64 to push the next pin to the left and so on, for a third car passing completely over treadle T-t and paying the correct toll. Rotation of sleeve 56 by gears 54 and 26, brings fingers 66 to 69 successively over roller 90 of switch 86 successively to energize the green or the red light, depending on whether or not the corresponding pin has been pushed in by payment of the correct toll. For example, if a car has paid the proper toll, the corresponding pin 68 will have been pushed in by finger 64 and, therefore, when reduced portion 72 of this pin comes into registration with the switch 86, roller 90 of the switch can move up and the green light is energized. On the other hand, if the next car did not pay the correct toll, the corresponding pin, such as pin 66, will not have been pushed in by finger 64, and, therefore, portion 70 of this pin will register with roller 90 of the switch and will push movable arm 85 down to energize red light R. In other words, movement of pins 66 to 69 to the left relative to sleeve 56, serves to store information that the corresponding cars paid the proper toll and rotation of sleeve 56 releases this information by energizing, or by failing to energize, the green light in the order in which the information was received which, in turn, corresponds to the order in which the cars passed over treadle T-1. The information stored by the passage of the cars over treadle T-l is erased in the same order by the passage of the cars over treadle T-2, which rotates sleeve 56 in a direction to cause the pins, which have been pushed to the left, to ride on cam 76 which pushes the pins back to their right hand position, as viewed in FIG. 4.

The apparatus described operates equally well under varying traffic loads. For example, when traffic is slow, so that the front and rear wheels of each car will pass over treadles T-l and T-Z and the car reaches the position of car 92, before the front wheels of the next car pass over treadle T1, finger 64 and pins 66 to 69 will move from position P1 in FIG. 7 (which is the position of the parts before the front wheels of any car have passed over treadle T-l) through positions P-2, P-3 and P-4 and to position P5 which is the same as position P-1. More specifically, it will be noted that, in position P-1, fingers 64 registers with pin 69 and that, when the front wheels of the car pass over treadle T-l, as in the position of car 95 in FIG. 1, finger 64 will be moved by ratchet 44, etc., through an angle of 45, or to position P-2 in FIG. 7, in which finger 64 registers with pin 68. When the rear wheels of the car pass over treadle T-l, to bring the car to the position of car 94 in FIG. 1, finger 64 will be moved through a further angle of 45, or to position P-S in FIG. 7. It will be noted that the width of finger 64 is such that in positions P-2 and P-3 of FIG. 7, finger 64 continues to cover, or to register with, pin 68 so as to be ready to push this pin to the left in response to the energization of solenoid S-3 by payment of the correct toll. This gives coin collecting machine enough time to count and add up coins received, even though the motorist may have been slow in depositing the coin relative to the movement of the car over treadle T-l. In other words, by making finger 64 wide enough, it continues to register with pin 68 while it is rotating through an angle of or from position P-1 to position P-3, which could not be done if finger 64 were only as wide as pin 68. In any event, the payment of the proper tool by a car which has completely passed over treadle T-l and has reached the position of car 94 in FIG. 1, causes finger 64 to push a pin such as pin 66 in FIG. 2, to the left or to the position of pin 68 in FIG. 4. When the front wheels of this car pass over treadle T-Z, as in the position of car 93 in FIG. 1, solenoid 8-2 is activated to turn finger 64 and sleeve 56 jointly through an angle of 45 in the reverse direction, or in the direction of the arrows in position P4 in FIG. 7, and passage of 'the rear wheels of this car over treadle T-2, which means that the car has left the toll collecting area, further turns finger 64 and sleeve 56 jointly in the direction of the arrows in position P4, or to position P-S in FIG. 7. This completes the cycle and the machine is now ready to receive the next car which, because traffic is slow, will not have reached treadle T-l until the previous car has cleared treadle T-Z.

The next car that completely passes over treadle T-l will again move finger 64 from position P1 to position P-3 but, this time, finger 64 will register with, and, on

' payment of the correct toll, will push pin 67 to the left,

and so on, for the toll payment of the third car which will push pin 66 and the toll payment of the fourth car which will push pin 69. Passage of the front and rear wheels of the cars over treadle T-Z progressively rotates sleeve 56 and finger 64 in the reverse direction so that the pins which were pushed by finger 64, to the left, as viewed in FIG. 4, are now restored or pushed to the right by cam 76, to re-set the machine preparatory to the passage of the next car to repeat the cycle.

When traffic is heavy and vehicles are moving in close order, the first car completely to clear treadle T-1 will move finger 64 from position P-1 to position P-3 of FIG. 7; the passage of the front wheels of a second car over treadle T-1 will move finger 64 to positions P-6 and P7; the passage of the front wheels of,a third car over treadle T-l will move finger 64 to position P-S; the passage of the front wheels of the first car over treadle T-2 brings the parts to position P-9; the passage of the rear wheels of the first car over treadle T-Z moves finger 64 and sleeve 56 to position P-10; the passage of the front and rear wheels of said second car over treadle T-Z moves the parts through positions P-11 and P-12; the passage of the rear wheels of the third car over treadle T 1 moves finger 64 to position P-13, and the passage of the front and rear wheels ofthe third car over treadle T2 moves the parts through positions P-14 and P-15. It will be noted that position P15 is the same as position P-l in which the toll collecting area is again clear of cars and the machine is ready to begin a new cycle.

It will thus be seen that, if the proper toll is paid -by a succession of cars, the green light will be energized as each car approaches the semaphore and the red light will be energized after each car has passed over treadle T-Z. If any car did not pay the toll, the green light will not be energized and the red light will remain energized.

If it is desired to eliminate the intermittent energization of the green light in response to the payment of successive correct tolls, reduced portions 72 of the pins can be made in quadrants, or in segments of 90, as shown in FIG. 8. By this arrangement, the surfaces of said reduced portions will constitute a complete circle on which roller 90 of switch 86 will ride as long as all the cars pay the correct toll and the green light will be continuously energized.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the movement of a car over treadle T1 into the toll collecting zone, moves finger 64 into registration with a pin; that the payment of the proper toll causes finger 64 to push saidv ascen -ls r :1 pin to the left, as viewed in FIG. 4, to bring its reduced portion 72 into registration with roller 90 of the switch to permit energization of the green light; that the information that a car did, or did not, pay the proper toll is thus stored until the pin affected comes into registration with roller 90 of the switch, and that complete passage of a car over treadle T-2 causes the pin to ride on cam 76 which moves it back. to its right hand position to complete the cycle.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for storing information relative to the occurrence of a first event, and for releasing said information upon the occurrence of a second event, said mechanism including a movable member, means activated by the occurrence of said first event for moving said member, in a first direction, to a first position, means activated by the occurrence of said second event for moving said member, in a second direction, to a second position, a signal, and means operable upon movement of said member to said second position for energizing said signal.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 and means operable by movement of said member, in said second direction, beyond said second position for moving said member back to its first position.

3. For use in a toll collecting installation which includes a coin-receiving machine, a member movable to a first position and to a second position, a pusher operable by the deposit of the correct toll in said machine for moving said member to said second position, a signaling device, -a switch for energizing said device located adjacent the path of movement of said member, and means movable with said member and operable when said member is in its said second position to activate said switch and energize said signaling device.

4. The structure recited in claim 3 and a treadle near said signaling device, and means openable by the passage of a vehicle over said treadle for returning said member to its first position.

5. The structure recited in claim 3 in which said mem ber is an elongated, axially movable pin; in which said pusher is actuated by a solenoid which is energized by the payment of the correct toll into said machine, and in which said means is an enlargement on said pin which is engageable with aid switch to energize the same only when said member is in its second position.

6. A memory mechanism for storing information relative to the occurrence of a first series. of events, and for releasing said information upon the occurrence of a corresponding second series of events in the order of occurrence of said first series of events, said mechanism including at least first and second movable members, means successively operable by the occurrence of at least two successive first series events, for successively moving said first and second members, in one direction, to a rst position, means operable by the occurrence of at least two successive second series events to move said members, in a second direction, to a second position, a signal, and means operable by the movement of each of said members to said second position to energize said signal.

7. A device for storing information relative to the occurrence of a first event and for releasing said information upon the occurrence of a second event, said device including an elongated member movable longitudinally of its axis from a first, to a second position, said member being also movable, in a direction at an angle to its axis, to a third position, actuating means operable in response to the occurrence of said first event to move said member, from its said first, to its second position, actuating means operable on occurrence of said second event for moving said member in said direction to said third position, a signaling device, means operable by movement of said member to said third position to activate said signaling device to indicate the occurrence of said first event, and means operable upon movement of said member beyond said third postion to move said member back to its first position.

8. A device for storing information relative to the occurrence of a first event and for releasing said information upon the occurrence of a second event, said device including a rotary body, an elongated member carried by said body and movable, longitudinally thereof, to a first and to a second position, actuating means operative upon the occurrence of said first event to move said member to said second position, actuating means for rotating said body to move said member, while it is still in said second position, to a third position, a signaling device, and means operable by movement of said member to said third position to activate said signaling device to indicate the occurrence of aid first event.

9. The structure recited in claim 8 and means for rotating said rotary body in the reverse direction, and means movable with said rotary body and engageable with said member to return said member to its first position.

10. A device for successively storing information relative to the occurrence of a series of first events and for successively releasing said information, upon the occurrence of a series of second events, said device including a rotary body, a plurality of elongated members carried thereby, each of said members being movable to a first and second position relative to the axis of said rotary body, actuating means successively operable upon the occurrence of a succession of said first events to successively move corresponding members to their second positions relative to said rotary body, actuating means suc cessively operable upon the occurrence of a series of said second events corresponding to said first events, for

successively rotating said body successively to move each of said members to a third position outside the axis of said body, a signaling device, and means operable by successive movements of said members to said third position, successively to activate said signaling device to indicate the occurrence of successive first events in the order in which said first events occurred.

11. The structure recited in claim 10 and means for rotating said body in the reverse direction, movable with said body, and engageable with said members for successively returning said members to their first position.

12. A memory unit for a toll collecting system which comprises a coin-receiving machine, said unit including a signal spaced from said machine a distance equal, at least, to twice the length of the longest vehicle using the system, a treadle over which an approaching vehicle must pass before said coin-receiving machine becomes accessible to the driver of the vehicle, a first solenoid energizable by passage of a vehicle over said treadle, a second solenoid cnergizable by the payment of the correct toll into said machine, a rotary body, a plurality of pins carried by said body, each of said pins being independently movable to a first and second position relative to the axis of rotation of said body, and a pusher, movable longitudinally of the axis of said body and engageable with each of said pins to move it from its first to its second position, means operable by the energization of said first solenoid to rotate said pusher in one direction into registration with one of said pins, means operable by energization of said second solenoid for engaging said pusher with the registering pin to move the same to its second position, a switch located adjacent the path of movement of said pins, and means carried by each of said pins and engageable with said switch as each of said pins is moved to its second position to energize said signal.

13. The structure recited in claim 12 and a second treadle adjacent said signal and over which a vehicle leaving the toll collecting zone must pass, a third solenoid energizable by the passage of a vehicle over said second treadle, and actuating means operable upon energization of said third solenoid to rotate said hody and said pusher References Cited in the file of this patent in the reverse direction. UNITED STATES PATENTS 14. The structure recited in claim 13 and a cam rotatable with said body and engageable With the adjacent end 2,889,544 Grant et a1. June 2, 1959 of a pin in its second position to push said pin back to its 5 first position. 

